Writing a College-Entrance Essay
You've done a lot of reflecting on who you are and who you want to be in the future. You've researched a few schools that can help you achieve that future and have gathered details about your qualifications. It's time to start the application process. Remember that last word: process. You probably won't be able to complete everything all at once. Online applications allow you to log in, save work, and return as you get the pieces pulled together. Fill out what you can, supply your transcripts, and arrange for whatever fees you might have.
Most importantly, take some time analyzing the college-entrance prompt and writing your response. Do your work in a separate document and go through revisions and edits before pasting everything back into the application. The following activities will support you as you draft your response.
Writing to Analyze the Prompt
Before you can write a college-entrance essay, you need to understand what the college wants you to write about and why. Carefully read and analyze the prompt by asking the PAST questions about it:
Write an essay that introduces us to who you are. Tell us about a particular life experience, talent, commitment, or interest you have. Explain how your presence will enrich life on campus.
- Purpose: Why am I writing? (to introduce myself, telling how I will enrich life on campus)
- Audience: Who will read my writing? (admissions officers)
- Subject: What am I writing about? (a particular life experience, talent, commitment, or interest I have)
- Type: What form should my writing take? (an essay)
Analyze the college-entrance prompt.
Copy the college-entrance prompt. Then write answers to each of the PAST questions.
College-entrance prompt:
- Purpose: Why am I writing?
- Audience: Who will read my writing?
- Subject: What am I writing about?
- Type: What form should my writing take?
Writing Your Thesis Statement
Once you have analyzed the prompt, you should write a thesis statement that directly answers it. Your thesis statement should name the subject and address the purpose of the prompt.
Create a thesis statement.
Write down the Subject of the prompt, then address the Purpose. Finally, write a single sentence that names the subject and connects to the purpose. Use this sentence to focus your response.
Subject |
+ |
Purpose |
= |
Thesis Statement |
|
a particular life experience, talent, commitment, or interest |
introduce myself, telling how I will enrich life on campus |
My summer at Outward Bound turned my life around, and I want to study environmental science so that I can help other at-risk students find themselves in nature. |
Teacher Tip
Point out to students that this is a working thesis statement—meant to help them focus their writing. The student who wrote the sample thesis statement revised it completely by the time he finished his entrance essay. He wanted to create suspense for the reader but still delivered the same focus throughout his response.
Writing the Beginning Paragraph
Now that you have a thesis statement that targets the prompt, you need an opening sentence that grabs the attention of admissions counselors, who have to read hundreds or thousands of essays. You want an opening that is memorable without being bizarre, that relates to the prompt, and that represents you well. You can experiment with different strategies for catching your reader's interest and leading toward your thesis statement.
Write a lead sentence.
Try out some of these strategies for introducing your college-entrance essay. Read the examples for ideas.
- Start in the middle of a dramatic scene.
Hanging from a half-inch rope halfway up a 500-foot cliff makes one reflect on the meaning of life.
- Provide a strong quotation.
"Keep close to Nature's heart . . . . and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean."
—John Muir - Directly introduce your subject.
My whole life, I've had to fight to survive, but Outward Bound taught me that I have the power not only to survive, but to thrive.
- Ask an engaging question.
Have you ever ended up rescuing yourself?
Write your beginning paragraph.
Start with your lead, and then provide background and develop a paragraph leading to your thesis statement.
Writing the Middle Paragraphs
Develop a middle paragraph for each main point that supports your thesis statement. Make sure your voice sounds genuine, engaged, and friendly and reflects well on you.
Write your middle paragraphs.
Start each paragraph with a topic sentence that names the main point, and use details that support the main point. Draw from your prewriting work, giving specifics about your academics, extracurriculars, and community involvement.
Teacher Tip
Allow students to develop these paragraphs first if they wish. Sometimes, students prefer to work from the details up to the thesis statement rather than the reverse direction.
Writing the Ending Paragraph
Your ending paragraph draws your college-entrance essay to an effective close. You can develop this paragraph using a number of different ending strategies.
Try ending strategies.
Write a sentence for each ending strategy. Read the examples for ideas. Then consider using some or all of these sentences in your ending paragraph.
- Revisit the strategy from your lead.
Though I was hanging from a half-inch rope halfway up a 500-foot cliff, in fact I was bound by a dozen other cords to the guys around me.
- Provide a paradox.
The more confidence I developed in my own abilities, the more I trusted all the people around me.
- Use another powerful quotation.
In four words, Teddy Roosevelt summed up the healing power of strenuous exercise in nature: "Get active! Get sane!"
- Give the reader a final thought to take away.
I want to help others save themselves and save each other. After all, what better meaning can life offer?
Write your ending paragraph.
Use some or all of the strategies you tried above as you build an ending paragraph for your college-entrance essay.
Reading a Sample Draft
Read a sample college-entrance essay.
As you read this draft, notice how the writer puts the parts together.
Listen to "Climbing"
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Sample College-Entrance Prompt and Response
Write an essay that introduces us to who you are. Tell us about a particular life experience, talent, commitment, or interest you have. Explain how your presence will enrich life on campus.
Lead Hanging from a half-inch rope halfway up a 500-foot cliff makes one reflect on the meaning of life. "Why am I here?" Well, the answer seemed obvious: a court order for a month in Outward Bound or three months in juvenile detention. I'd decided to celebrate the end of my freshman year in high school at a party with underage drinking and other stuff and ended up busted: zip-tied to a chain-link fence along with a couple dozen other kids. Beginning Paragraph It was a fitting end to a bad year, with D's and F's and an arrest for tagging and a few fights. Anybody who'd been paying attention could see where my life had been headed since my parents split. Thesis Statement As I glanced down the granite cliff to the tumbled boulders far below, the question was where my life was headed now.
Middle Paragraphs You've seen my transcripts. You've seen the D's and F's of freshman year become B's and C's sophomore year, and A's and B's junior year, and all A's senior year. You've seen that I went from no extra-curriculars to basketball and forensics, radio broadcasting and student government. You've seen that a kid who was everybody's last consideration made something out of himself. Outward Bound turned me around.
First, they taught me that no one would take me seriously until I took myself seriously. Anecdote I had to learn a hundred different survival skills: orienting, fire building, shelter building, wound setting, snare setting, fish cleaning, and, of course, rock climbing. At first, I thought it was a waste of time to learn all this stuff I'd never use in real life. But not learning it left me cold and hungry and wet, so I dug in and learned. Surprisingly, I could do it, all of it, and do it well. I gained a new confidence. When I realized I could help others and even teach them, I started to connect. It wasn't just about me and surviving. It was about us and thriving.
Now, I had a choice. I was tired and only halfway up. I could quit and rappel to the rocks below, or I could keep climbing and reach the top. My friend Big Jake, who'd caught me in my trust fall on Day One, was at the bottom of the cliff as my anchor. Karl and Josiah were climbing next to me. Counselor Jones waited at the summit. I looked for handholds and footholds in stone, paused to set a carabiner and thread a safety line, grabbed a shoulder of rock, and pulled myself higher. Then I squeezed the brake and sat in the harness, trusting Big Jake with my weight while Karl and Josiah rose beside me. We nodded. No reason to talk. All of us had plenty of work ahead. With muscle and grit and courage, we would get to the top.
Life Goals That was the moment I changed. I could feel it. Yeah, rock climbing wasn't a skill I'd ever need in real life, except that it basically was real life. It's all about muscle and grit and courage, about climbing and helping other people who are climbing. High School Details When I got back to school, I started with my grades, pulling them up with lots of homework, study sessions, retakes on tests, and extra-credit projects. Then I joined basketball and worked on free-throws and rebounds and teamwork. Then it was forensics and argumentation. And the whole time, I was making friends and helping them succeed. I was taking myself seriously and helping other people take themselves seriously.
I'm graduating this year from high school and going on to get a degree in environmental science because I want to work in a program like Outward Bound. I want to help people in free-fall find that safety line and learn to climb. In college, I'll be heading for the top, just like I have done in high school, and I'll be helping those around me do so, as well. In class and clubs and the dorm, I'll be encouraging my fellow climbers. I'll lend a hand when someone slips or freaks out or just doesn't have the strength to keep rising. Sometimes someone just needs a person to hang there alongside, talking gently, looking at the view, sharing an energy bar . . . waiting for the courage to go on.
Ending Paragraph Though I was hanging from a half-inch rope halfway up a 500-foot cliff, in fact I was bound by a dozen other cords to the guys around me. As it turns out, that is the meaning of life. You climb and you help others climb, and all of you get to the top. I plan to major in environmental science in preparation to become a wilderness counselor, but I don't have to wait for graduation to realize my dream. Life is a wilderness, and I'll always have plenty of fellow travelers on my journey.